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Health assessment for people aged 40 to 49 years with a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Fact Sheet

Health assessment for people aged 40 to 49 years with a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes (PDF 152 KB)
If you have any queries related to these items or difficulty accessing the PDFs above, please contact mbd.web@health.gov.au

A medical practitioner may select MBS item 701 (brief), 703 (standard), 705 (long), or 707 (prolonged) to undertake a type 2 diabetes risk evaluation depending on the length of the consultation as determined by the complexity of the patient’s presentation.

The aim of the type 2 diabetes risk evaluation is to support medical practitioners to address the health needs of patients 40 to 49 years of age who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The type 2 diabetes risk evaluation is a review of the risk factors underlying the patient’s ‘high risk’ score as identified by the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool. It includes initiating interventions, such as referral to lifestyle modification programs, to assist with the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Components of the health assessment provided as a type 2 diabetes risk evaluation

The type 2 diabetes risk evaluation must include:

• evaluating a patient’s ‘high risk’ score as determined by the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool, which has been completed by the patient within a period of 3 months prior to undertaking the type 2 diabetes risk evaluation;
• updating the patient’s history and undertaking physical examinations and clinical investigations in accordance with relevant guidelines;
• making an overall assessment of the patient’s risk factors and of the results of relevant examinations and investigations;
• initiating interventions, if appropriate, including referral to a lifestyle modification program and follow-up relating to the management of any risk factors identified (further information is available at www.health.gov.au/preventionoftype2diabetes); and
• providing the patient with advice and information (such as the Lifescripts resources produced by the Department of Health and Ageing available at http://www.health.gov.au/lifescripts), including strategies to achieve lifestyle and behaviour changes if appropriate.

Risk Factors

Risk factors include the following:

• lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, physical inactivity and poor nutrition;
• biomedical risk factors, such as high blood pressure, impaired glucose metabolism and excess weight; and
• a family history of a chronic disease.

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The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool

The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool consists of a short list of questions that, when completed, provides a guide to a patient’s current level of risk of developing type 2 diabetes over the next five years. The tool can be completed either by the patient or with the assistance of a health professional.

Completion of the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool is mandatory for patient access to this health assessment. Patients with a ‘high’ risk score result are eligible for the health assessment and subsequent referral to a subsidised lifestyle modification program if appropriate. The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool can be downloaded from www.health.gov.au/preventionoftype2diabetes.

Subsidised Lifestyle Modification Programs

The intention of a lifestyle modification program is to help people modify their risk factors to delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. A typical program will be a series of group motivational and educational sessions supporting lifestyle changes and adoption of healthy lifestyle choices. Medical practitioners should contact their local Division of General Practice to identify what subsidised lifestyle modification programs are available locally.

The patient’s medical practitioner will complete a lifestyle modification program GP Referral Form for the patient to present to the provider of the program for registration. The GP Referral Form can be obtained from www.health.gov.au/preventionoftype2diabetes.

Relevant resources on lifestyle modification, including information for patients who may not wish to attend or are unable to participate in a formal subsidised lifestyle modification program, are available at
www.healthinsite.gov.au.

Restrictions on providing the health assessment provided as a type 2 diabetes risk evaluation

Eligible patients must be aged 40 to 49 years (inclusive) or 15 to 54 years (inclusive) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes as determined by the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool. Patients with newly diagnosed or existing diabetes are not eligible for this evaluation.

A Medicare rebate is payable for each eligible patient once every three years. The rebate is not payable in conjunction with another attendance item on the same day, except where it is clinically required. The type 2 diabetes risk evaluation is not available to admitted patients of a hospital or day-hospital facility.

Guidelines and Resources

For more information about MBS primary care items visit the Department of Health and Ageing website at www.health.gov.au/mbsprimarycareitems or phone the Medicare Australia provider enquiry line on 132 150.

More detailed information about the item descriptors and explanatory notes is available at the Department of Health and Ageing website at www.health.gov.au/mbsonline.

For more general information about the Australian Government’s Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes program, including lifestyle modification programs, visit the Department of Health and Ageing website at
www.health.gov.au/preventionoftype2diabetes or the Australian General Practice Network at www.agpn.com.au.

Medical practitioners are encouraged to utilise relevant guidelines and resources, such as:

• The Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool at www.health.gov.au/preventionoftype2diabetes
• ’SNAP’ (Smoking, Nutrition, Alcohol and Physical activity) - A population health guide to behavioural risk factors in general practice available at www.racgp.org.au/guidelines/snap RACGP guidelines for preventive activity in general practice at http://www.racgp.org.au/guidelines red book and/or green book.
• Overweight and Obesity in Adults: A Guide for General Practitioners’. A National Health and Medical Research Council publication at www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/obesityguidelines-guidelines-adults.htm.
• The Department of Health and Ageing’s Lifescripts guidelines and evidence cards, assessment tools and prescription pads available at www.health.gov.au/lifescripts or www.agpn.com.au